Circulating biomarkers associated with pelvic organ prolapse risk in late gestation sows

Sow mortality, as the result of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), has been increasing in the last decade in the U.S. swine industry. The objective of this study was to identify potential biological markers associated with risk of POP in sows. We hypothesized that sows differing in perineal score (PS) from PS1–PS3 (PS1—a presumed low POP risk; PS2—a presumed moderate POP risk; and PS3—a presumed high POP risk) would differ in circulatory biomarkers of inflammation and hormonal profiles. On gestation week 15, 2,864 individual sows were assigned a PS, and subsequently, 1.0%, 2.7%, and 23.4% of PS1, PS2, or PS3 sows, respectively, experienced POP. During PS assignment at days 107–116 of gestation, blood samples were collected from sows on two farms of similar genetics, feed sources, and health status. Whole blood was subjected to complete blood count (CBC) analysis (n = 212) and steroid hormones were measured in serum from a subset (n = 110) of animals assigned PS3 parity matched to PS1. Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), haptoglobin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and creatine kinase (CK) levels were also evaluated. Complete blood count analysis revealed decreased (P ≤ 0.05) mean platelet volume (3.9%), lymphocytes (6.5%), and monocytes (7.5%) in PS3 compared to PS1 sows. Increased (P ≤ 0.02) abundance of androstenedione (13.4%), androsterone (18.2%), estrone (24.8%), and 17β-estradiol (26.2%) was observed in PS3 compared to PS1 sows. Additionally, a 25.8% increase (P = 0.04) in LBP in PS3 compared to PS1 sows was observed. Many dynamic physiological changes occur in sows during late gestation as they approach farrowing. The data presented herein demonstrate that distinct differences in concentrations of circulating biomarkers exist between late gestation sows at high or low risk for POP and may serve as a useful tool for understanding the etiology of POP and evaluation of mitigation strategies.     

Study of morpho-physiological, phenological and reproductive behaviour in protogynous lines of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.)]

Understanding the relationship between floral and reproductive traits are critical to understand the evolution of plant species in brassica and need for selecting lines as parental lines in hybrid seed prodcution. The protogyny nature of Brassica species are characterized based on the variations in floral morphology, protogyny interval, stigma receptivity, pollen biology, compatibility and seeds set. The variation in stigma morphology features (stigma exsertion prior to anthesis) and protogyny interval (ranged from 8 to 10 days) formed phenotypically distinct. Studies on stigma receptivity and pollen viability revealed significant variability and found to be at its peak up to 3 days after anthesis and reduced drastically thereafter. Compatibility crosses and post pollination events such as pollen deposition on the surface of the stigma and culminating with the entry of the pollen tube into the embryo sac, was rapid and completed within 2 days after pollination, whereas in in-compatible cross not even single pollen was germinated on stigmatic surface and consequently no pollen tube growth even after sixth day of pollination. In compatible crosses average seed set ranged from 3 to 8 seeds per pod from cross pollination and no seed set in self. The investigation revealed that variation exists for protogyny interval, stigma receptivity and compatibility in the protogynous lines of Indian mustard and this can be exploited for the production of hybrids without emasculation.